Animal Cruelty in China

One hotly contested issue in China is their cruelty towards animals. Many activists and aid workers have snuck into the country in order to show foreigners what kind of atrocities are committed, but animal cruelty in China still persists. The Chinese government has put very little effort to curbing the cruelties that are a daily occurrence in the country, but have instead spent their resources disallowing information to spread outside of their borders. In all, they have decided to work on animal cruelty in China because of the image it has on foreigners rather than any moral obligation to living beings.

Cruelty Towards Animals in China

In China there has historically been little protection for animals. As late as 2006 there were no laws regarding animal protections at all. In some places the police officers are allowed to shoot stray dogs on sight.

However, many of the worst offenses are done against animals for monetary gain. Many foxes and other animals are skinned while alive in order to produce furs for clothing and other goods. Fish and many other animals are also traditionally killed while alive instead of first killed and then dressed. This has been seen all over social media outlets in the past few years.

The animal cruelty in China is not only a product of government negligence. Many Chinese people (like others around the world) have not been educated enough to realize the damage and cruelty they are inflicting. In 2006 one of the reasons that China started to pass minimal animal cruelty laws was because of a woman who crushed a kitten to death with her stiletto heels. Many gruesome images were captured and shared across the internet.

Animal Cruelty in Chinese Food Industry

The food industry in China is notorious for lax and non-existent animal cruelty laws. Many of the animals in China do not live in conditions that befit even the animals meant for slaughter. Not only are their conditions cruel, but they are also unhealthy for the people living and eating there.

Many of the seafood and meat products are manufactured with some type of animal abuse. Although some of it is subtle, the animals are still suffering nonetheless. Many aid workers and activists try to change the status quo, but Chinese governmental regulations prevent any real change from happening. In some cases it is almost as if the Chinese Communist party likes animal cruelty to occur.

Animal Cruelty in China Looking Forward

In some ways the future of animal cruelty in China looks good. Some laws have been passed that are meant to protect the rights of animals, but overall the efforts have been lackluster at best. In many cases there is no oversight by the government.

The people of China are largely okay with their totalitarian rule because they are measured some level of freedom. The ability to treat animals in the same way as they have been for centuries is one of these freedoms that common Chinese may unfortunately never give up.